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I'd be happy to let you borrow camping stuff if you need it, so you don't have to pay some granola eating cast member of Portlandia $#@! to walk you around. But that's just like, my opinion of pretty much all tours, man.

The reviews do look good. Yosemite is a wonderful place. Having someone else doing all the planning for you and going as a group with a bunch of coeds (they are included, I think) would be fun and a lot less pressure.

I share PMcH's sense on what makes backpacking fun. But, if you haven't done it much or you don't know what to expect at a particular location, then I wouldn't hesitate to join in one of these tours. Drop me at Glacier and I would be completely out of my comfort zone and wishing for a cast member from Portlandia/REI.

The one thing I remember most about Yosemite was worrying about water. I don't know if that was just one bad trip (too many dead brain cells now) or just a design feature of an unbelievable piece of terrain.

Enjoy the trip. It is breathtaking the first time you see that valley.

I personally don't backpack in groups, but that said, especially if you don't have much/any experience, that looks like a good way to go. It'll be good to have some local experts so when the bears come around you don't freak out. I've done that "High Country" segment on my JMT hike and it is nice. I don't see water being much problem, but I'm used to Texas where you have to pack all of your water; the Sierra seemed downright flush with flowing water to me. (I never had a problem with water, all the way from Yosemite to Mt Whitney, save one dry stretch.)

If you have any qualms about trusting REI, I have a buddy who hiked the AT over the course of several years, before the age of the interwebs so he had to do tons of planning ahead of time (mailing packages ahead of time, arranging rides, etc). A lot of that was done through the AT groups and also REI resources. If I have any questions about any camping or hiking gear, he is my go to guy. He speaks very highly of everything that REI does.

If you have any qualms about trusting REI, I have a buddy who hiked the AT over the course of several years, before the age of the interwebs so he had to do tons of planning ahead of time (mailing packages ahead of time, arranging rides, etc). A lot of that was done through the AT groups and also REI resources. If I have any questions about any camping or hiking gear, he is my go to guy. He speaks very highly of everything that REI does.

Do it. Ask questions, learn, then do the next ones on your own. You don't even have to spend 5 grand on gear to get a decent setup.

This is kind of my theory. I went on a week long trip with my dad but that was 30 years ago. No experience since then. None of my family or friends are into this kind of stuff which is actually fine with me.

Realistically how much should I budget for equipment for this kind of trip? I have nothing.

I've been buying quality/value gear for the last several years for my annual AT segment hikes in Virginia. You definitely want to keep weight down but you don't have to go overboard on cost to save weight. Sign up for REI rewards and you'll get two 20% off coupons a year and know the sales.

I bought almost all my gear on sale, with the coupon or on their overstock/close out site.

Also might be worth getting a good sleeping bag rather than a pos from Academy. The equipment guides I've seen recommend you dish out the most money on the "big three", that being sleeping bag, tent, and backpack. Get quality on those, and pretty much everything else is cream cheese.

Dining opinions vary widely. I did freeze-dried (there's really no other way for long distance hikes) for 21 straight days, breakfast and dinner, with jerky and gorp for lunch, and liked it just fine. ANd I would say spend whatever it takes to get comfortable boots. And you don't have to have a tent, you can get by with a tarp probably. You'll probably want a fairly warm bag; it can easily be below freezing there.

Worth every penny for a good night sleep. The regular self inflating pads were too thin and I could never get comfortable on my side.

I weighed my pack last night with the pad, sleeping bag, stove, pots, water filter and tent in it and that added up to about 15-16 pounds. If you want a list of what I found worked well send a PM or try whiteblaze.net which is an AT hiking site but has a lot of general hiking related info and gear information.

I weighed my pack last night with the pad, sleeping bag, stove, pots, water filter and tent in it and that added up to about 15-16 pounds.

Impressive - seriously. I did a lot of solo backcountry backpacking when I was younger because I appreciated the solitude like fightin' buck. I looked for trails where I wouldn't see another person for days, which isn't difficult in Colorado. My pack regularly weighed more than 40 lbs. (and I wasn't carrying Dinty Moore stew or bottles of scotch).

On the equipment front, REI rents equipment if you want to try rather than buy.

Thanks, It isn't hard to get your pack weight down and it doesn't have to be very expensive (well too much more than gear is to begin with) if you start out looking for ways to keep it down. The best thing about that weight is that about 5.5 pounds of it are tent related and when I hike with my brothers I only carry half.